The distance from Teddington RFC to Hampton Court Station is about three kilometres. Across Bushy Park, past the Princess Diana Fountain, around Hampton Court Palace and then cross the bridge. On normal days, all spectacular sights for the visiting tourist. They didn’t look so spectacular now. The green grasslands had been replaced by burned-out ash, massive craters, and the shattered shells of Hierarchy shuttlecraft. The largest of them - the massive, hulking transport from which the Carnotaurs had emerged - had been battered by hundreds of shells, warping and twisting the metal beyond recognition. The armor still hadn’t cracked. Soldiers and tanks surrounded the damaged craft, targeting anything that looked like a hatch. We marched by them, thousands of soldiers in a line. Alpha Company led from the front, Phoenix Company and my Gladiator immediately behind them, followed by troops from a dozen different armies. Australians, New Zealanders, Germans, Canadians, Kenyans, Indians, Bangladeshis, Frenchmen, and Americans walked side-by-side with the Britishers fighting to defend their capital. As we crossed the bridge, I could see the Greater Carnotaur perk up. : YOU COME TO LEARN, LITTLE BROTHER? : Yes. : EXCELLENT. I HAD FEARED YOU HAD FORGOTTEN! : I keep my word, elder. : WONDERFUL. WE SHALL START THE LESSON SHORTLY. “He’s moving towards us,” Nanocloud announced. “Doyle. Begin.” The lieutenant made a chopping motion with his hand, and Alpha company broke into a sprint. Troops darted across the bridge in two-man teams, one with a rocket launcher and one with an M22. As the soldiers darted across, Phoenix Company followed, HEPARs aimed. I slowly ambled across the bridge, opening a Mindspeech channel. : No need to rush, elder. I’m coming to you. : I SHALL WAIT FOR YOU, LITTLE BROTHER. DON’T WASTE TOO MUCH OF MY TIME WITH YOUR LESSERS - IT IS YOU I WISH TO LEARN FROM. : Fear not, we shall both learn this day. For now, my lessers offer their greetings. : ELEGANTLY PUT. I SHALL REWARD THEM APPROPRIATELY. “He’s prepared for you,” I warned Pemberley. The officer swiveled to face her troops. “All companies. Seven Gamma!” The orderly formation broke. Soldiers raced to the sides of the bridge, companies scattering in a seemingly random fashion. Somehow, the random movements resulted in soldiers positioning themselves behind cover, rockets aimed towards the Carnotaur. Which was still ambling towards us, unconcerned, as I strolled casually across the bridge. And as Ehu-tu-Vettorak emerged into the open, hundreds of troops opened fire. Rockets streaked towards the Carnotaur. Ehu-tu-Vettorak dodged most of them. Explosions ripped apart the street behind him. Some rockets hit. Explosions rippled across the Greater Carnotaur’s armor. The beast shrugged them off, seemingly unconcerned. GREATER CARNOTAUR HIT BY 32 ROCKETS! -800,000 HP! Blackish-red fluid sprayed from wounds on the side of the creature. Then it was on the water’s edge. Teeth and claws slashed at the crouching soldiers, and men and women died. Ehu-tu-Vettorak swung his tail, smashing through the infantry. A soldier was flung through the air, splashing in the river. Thirty-two hits, out of almost a thousand rockets. Another barrage of rockets fired at the Carnotaur. Ehu-tu-Vettorak opened his mouth, and flames erupted. A wave of fire swept down the bridge, scalding several unfortunates. The flames suddenly flickered out. “Thanks, Agni,” I whispered. The Greater Carnotaur seemed puzzled for a second, then darted back, sprinting behind the station building. Suddenly, massive columns of white smoke erupted from its position. GREATER CARNOTAUR DEPLOYS SMOKE BOMB! VISIBILITY REDUCED TO 30 FEET. DURATION: 00:01:00 A cloud of smoke rapidly spread out, covering everything and concealing the creature’s movements. "Anyone got eyes?" a soldier screamed out. "I need eyes!" "No eyes on target!" "... goddamn ninja giant dinosaur..." : How far does this go? : At least a kilometre in each direction. It’s still spreading. : The troops are getting out night-vision goggles, but accuracy just went to hell. : Where is he now? : He’s crouched down behind the car park…. He’s standing still now. : Go! “Samuel!” I barked. “Behind the car park… now!” A portal ripped open in front of us. I darted through. It felt like walking through warm taffy, and then… The tug of gravity vanished, suddenly. Wind began to whistle through my ears, as I plummeted towards the ground from a height of two hundred metres. My mind reached out to the Carnotaur, questing for a Mindstrike…. There! About thirty metres off target from where I’d land… if I didn’t change course. I invoked Afterburner. A single Heavy Power Pack vanished from my Inventory, dematerializing as its energy content was converted to momentum. Taking me right in the direction of the Carnotaur. Seconds passed, as I screamed in like a missile. The whistle of my passing might have warned Ehu-tu-Vettorak, but the Carnotaur was in the middle of his Regeneration Pulse - requiring him to stand still for fifteen seconds. A minor tradeoff, one might say, for restoring almost a million health points. The portal had placed me three hundred and fifty metres above the earth, and Afterburner had added a massive boost of kinetic energy - energy which was added to as the pull of gravity accelerated me downwards. I was moving at a speed of over seventy metres per second. At that speed, it took me less than four seconds to reach Ehu-tu-Vettorak. On the count of three, I activated Death from Above. And slammed into the Greater Carnotaur with the force of a meteor. AT IMPACT VELOCITY OF 71.5 M/SEC, 7,210,079 FALL DAMAGE GENERATED. SUCCESSFULLY EXECUTED DEATH FROM ABOVE! FALL DAMAGE TRANSFERRED TO TARGET: GREATER CARNOTAUR. IMPACT MULTIPLIER: 307%. GREATER CARNOTAUR ABILITY: HARDENED SKIN: PHYSICAL DAMAGE REDUCED BY 75%. GREATER CARNOTAUR -7,336,255 HP! The sound of the impact drowned out everything. It felt as if the earth itself was shaking, as my Greyhound suit smashed through Ehu-tu-Vettorak’s Hardened skin and out again the other side. GREATER CARNOTAUR COMPLETES REGENERATION PULSE! 1,000,000 HP RESTORED. I hit the pavement with a crack, most of my momentum having been bled off in the journey through the Carnotaur’s body. I was covered in blackish-red Carnotaur blood, and my optical sensors were fuzzy. No time. I activated Evade Blows. A massive tail slammed by me, missing by a fraction of an inch as my skill puppeted my body out of the way. The Lightning Hammer manifested in my hands, and I swung. Shattering Strike slammed home. SHATTERING STRIKE TARGETS GREATER CARNOTAUR! CONDITION INFLICTED: BRITTLENESS! HARDENED ARMOR NO LONGER OFFERS RESISTANCE TO PHYSICAL DAMAGE. TIMER: 00:00:30. WEAPON DESTROYED: LIGHTNING HAMMER. The Lightning Hammer crumbled to dust in my hands. Thirty seconds. : Physical damage negated! Fire everything! : Firing now! Thunder rumbled, as missiles soared into the sky. Explosions erupted amidst us, even as I dodged the Greater Carnotaur. Claws smashed through walls and buildings. I ducked and weaved for all I was worth. A missile slammed into the creature. GREATER CARNOTAUR -100,000 HP FROM ALLIES! Followed by another. GREATER CARNOTAUR -100,000 HP FROM ALLIES! Four more missiles hammered the creature in close succession, as troops closed in on our position through the fog. Ehu-tu-Vettorak barely noticed. The Carnotaur opened its jaws, and fire rolled forth. I ducked out of the way. And then, the fire reared back, and wrapped itself around the kaiju. CONDITION INFLICTED: BURNING! GREATER CARNOTAUR IS BURNING! -2,500 HP/SECOND. Agni had arrived. Perfect timing. I yanked out my newest weapon - the Nanoblade Javelin - and slotted it into the launcher. The weapon slammed home, its full force punching into Ehu-tu-Vettorak. JAVELIN STRIKE! GREATER CARNOTAUR -8,000 HP! And now my AP was low - very low. Time to switch. The Mass Driver Rifle coalesced in my hands, and I fired. GREATER CARNOTAUR -4,000 HP! GREATER CARNOTAUR -4,000 HP! GREATER CARNOTAUR -4,000 HP! GREATER CARNOTAUR -4,000 HP! Four rounds down… My AP had ticked down to 6, so I cut Evade Blows short. Most of the troops had sprinted the hundred-metre distance from the bridge by now, and more rockets slammed into the Carnotaur. Thirteen hits so far, fired by soldiers sprinting through the still-thick fog and shooting at a massive creature that could crush them with an afterthought. A creature that was struggling, right now, with an ever-increasing flame. Tongues of fire were wrapped round the bleeding beast, filling the air with the scent of roasting flesh. Ehu-tu-Vettorak was slowly but surely being burnt alive…. ALLY INVOKES ACCELERATING FLAME. INFLICTED FIRE DAMAGE INCREASED 6X. The Carnotaur was clearly in pain, now, and there was only one thing to do. Ehu-tu-Vettorak opened his mouth to roar. A blue streak raced through the sky, and Morrowstar hurled her cargo into the Carnotaur’s mouth. Seven Plasma Grenades and a Gamma Ray Bomb exploded. GREATER CARNOTAUR -70,000 HP! RADIATION RESISTANCE: GREATER CARNOTAUR -50,000 HP! The one-million damage Gamma Ray Bomb only did 50,000 damage due to the 95% radiation resistance. So little for eighty thousand dollars.... : Bro, move! I narrowly dodged a wild swipe of the Carnotaur’s tail. The beast was still alive…. Time to throw in… everything. I yanked out the last major weapon at my disposal. The Hellfire-X missile I’d been carrying around flew straight and true. GREATER CARNOTAUR -350,000 HP! And with that, I was down to the ‘normal’ weapons… the MDR and its allies. ALLY INVOKES ACCELERATING FLAME. INFLICTED FIRE DAMAGE INCREASED 3X. … what the hell was Agni’s skill? The Carnotaur was now at 139,950 HP. I fired again. And again. GREATER CARNOTAUR -4,000 HP! GREATER CARNOTAUR -3,000 HP! And now I was at a ridiculously low 14 AP and 21 MP, a number which left me with very few options… except to fall back rapidly, and hope the rest of the troops could finish the job. Before Ehu-tu-Vettorak roared. Plasma bolts slammed into the Carnotaur, as Phoenix Company added their own contribution. And as I watched, a tiny cloud of black mist coalesced around the Carnotaur’s head. It plunged into his eyes. Blood fountained from them, as the Nanospikes ripped through the soft tissue of the alien’s cornea. GREATER CARNOTAUR IS BLINDED BY ALLY! GREATER CARNOTAUR -1,353 HP! And then, Agni pushed her flames to their limit. The blaze wrapped itself around the Carnotaur, the car park, and everything nearby. ALLY INVOKES ACCELERATING FLAME. INFLICTED FIRE DAMAGE INCREASED 2X. GREATER CARNOTAUR -330,000 HP! GREATER CARNOTAUR IS DEFEATED BY ALLY! With a final, unearthly scream, the massive creature collapsed onto the building, crashing through the walls. YOU AND YOUR ALLIES HAVE DEFEATED A GREATER CARNOTAUR, A CHAMPION OF THE DEADLIEST SPECIES IN THE GALAXY, IN CLOSE COMBAT! +250,000 XP! FOR DEFEATING AN ENEMY MORE THAN 50 LEVELS HIGHER THAN YOU, XP REWARD IS DOUBLED! +250,000 XP! +5 LUCK! : Is he dead? : He’s dead. It’s over. : One part’s over. The other two Carnotaurs have gone into a rampage - the Richmond Park one is now charging Chikaradzuyoi like a maddened bull, and the second is now running amok across the Nielson Rec ground. : I think this means we need to soldier on…. : By the way, did you get anything from killing the Carnotaur? : A few things…. HIDDEN QUEST COMPLETED: LESSON TAUGHT! TEACH THE CARNOTAURS TO NOT UNDERESTIMATE HUMANS BY MAKING AN EXAMPLE OF ONE OF THEIR LEADERS. RELATIONSHIP INCREASED: CARNOTAURS. +10,000 XP. BLUEPRINT UNLOCKED: TAURALLOY. HIDDEN QUEST COMPLETED: ONE PUNCH MAN! FOR DELIVERING OVER 5 MILLION DAMAGE IN A SINGLE BLOW IN MELEE COMBAT, YOU RECEIVE 50,000 XP! HIDDEN QUEST COMPLETED: GLASS CANNON! DEFEAT AN ENEMY WITH OVER 1,000 TIMES YOUR HEALTH AND ARMOR POINTS IN LESS THAN 60 SECONDS. REWARDS: +13 VITALITY, +10,000 XP. HIDDEN QUEST COMPLETED: SPEED OVER STRENGTH. DEFEAT AN ENEMY WITH OVER 1000 STRENGTH, WITHOUT BEING HIT A SINGLE TIME. REWARDS: +10 DEXTERITY, +1,000 XP. HIDDEN QUEST COMPLETED: ONLY THE STRONG. YOU DEALT 7 MILLION DAMAGE IN MELEE COMBAT WITHIN 60 SECONDS. GOOD EXERCISE, RIGHT? +1 STR FOR EVERY MILLION DAMAGE DEALT. TOTAL: +7 STR. +100 XP FOR A SUCCESSFULLY EXECUTED BATTLEPLAN! LEVEL UP X 9! YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 24! : Five minutes and we go after the Nielson Rec one. Chikaradzuyoi and the rest will have to hold out until then… : Are you okay? : I… will be.